Editorial Review

Unlike many men, Alligator Records never forgets an anniversary. "The country's largest contemporary blues label," as it rightly bills itself, has released multidisc compilations celebrating its 20th, 25th, 30th, and now 35th years. For reasons that aren't entirely clear, only tracks recorded for an artist's first Alligator disc are chosen for this chronologically presented summary of music that stretches from Hound Dog Taylor's electrifying 1971 label debut to Mavis Staples's in 2004. Although the imprint made a tentative stab at reggae in the mid '80s, its roster generally upholds the "genuine houserocking music" credo Alligator has boasted as a tagline since the early days. Whether reviving the careers of blues rockers (Johnny Winter, Roy Buchanan, Lonnie Mack, Elvin Bishop) or ageing icons with plenty of gas left in their tanks (Koko Taylor, Buddy Guy, Katie Webster, Mavis Staples, James Cotton, Guitar Shorty) or finding new blood to carry on the traditions (Michael Burks, Corey Harris, Dave Hole, Tinsley Ellis, Shemekia Copeland), Alligator sets the standard for what an independent label can achieve. These 35 nuggets extracted from a catalog of 225 albums only begin to tell the label's story, but there's not a weak one in the lot. Founder Bruce Iglauer's intriguing and insightful liner notes for each act add depth to the tunes, making Read more

Reviews (3)

Genuine Soul Rockin' Music
Even though this package only compiles material from Alligator Records, you probably won't find a more fascinating tour through the history of the Blues over the last 35 years. Of course, Alligator has a knack for signing up the most interesting Blues maestros. This compilation shows the development of cutting-edge Blues over the namesake era, ever since Alligator's inaugural release with Hound Dog Taylor in 1971. During much of this era, the Blues was still progressing, before settling into the respectful revivalism of recent years. In the 70s, Alligator was at the forefront with new artists who added flavor to tried-and-true styles, like the sinister Son Seals or the groovy Lonnie Brooks. Also during that decade, Alligator brought several veteran masters back into prominence, with powerful new material by the likes of Koko Taylor, Buddy Guy, and Professor Longhair (noteworthy for his authoritative New Orleans style). As this compilation rumbles along, we hear a surprising amount of experimentation and progression in the 1980s, as interesting new artists expanded the basic template of the Blues, including some great finds like Lil' Mo & the Blues Imperials and Little Charlie & the Nightcats. The songs here from the 90s and 00s show that even the genius artists at Alligator followed the trend in Blues to solidify the classic template, with technical chops becoming more important than innovation - notwithstanding intriguing gospel-inflected works from the Holmes Brothers and the queenly Mavis Staples. But thanks to the impeccable expertise and taste exercised by Alligator when signing masters both new and old, this compilation is a must for any fan or historian of modern Blues. [~doomsdayer520~]

A great range of great artists
This double-CD set has great artists, great selections from the artists, and a killer set of liner packaging.You get some choice information and showings by legendary cats as well as non-household names, with explanations as to why they were great (as if the music wasn't doing that job already).And at the price, you can't beat the value.

A great collection for anyone
If you're just getting into contemporary blues or you've been listening for awhile, you're going to love this collection.Alligator has been one of the class acts of the indie labels for a long time and these discs give you an idea why they are so well thought of.35 artists doing the first track from their first Alligator release.Marica Ball, Coco Montoya, Lonnie Mack, Johnny Winter, William Clarke and the list goes on with not a weak cut in the carload.These type of samplers are great if you're just getting into this type of music since you do get a wide selection of artists and styles.Alligator has released double disc anniversary sets in honor of yeas 20, 25, 30 and now, 35.They're all great to listen to, so grab one or all of them and have yourself a party with genuine houserocking music from people who know how to do it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Album Rock    2. Blues    3. Blues Collections    4. Blues-Rock    5. Contemporary Blues    6. Electric Chicago Blues    7. Electric Harmonica Blues    8. Electric Texas Blues    9. Harmonica Blues    10. Modern Acoustic Blues    11. Modern Electric Blues    12. Modern Electric Chicago Blues    13. Modern Electric Texas Blues    14. New Orleans Blues    15. Piano Blues    16. Pop    17. R&B    18. Slide Guitar Blues    19. Soul-Blues    20. Swamp Blues   

Reviews (9)

Brings Back Memories to the Old (and Young)!
'Good For What Ails You' is a great set of cd's with old songs that were sung at old medicine shows. I remember some of those songs from records and radio programs from my childhood - songs that I had totally forgotten!
Priceless anthology
This element of American history should never be forgotten, and this anthology ensures that it won't.The accompanying booklet is a textbook of fascinating anecdotes and photographs, and it even includes a small, helpful insert of "spelling errata" to guide the reader through the language of the time.The music itself transports the listener to a time that seems like ancient history, populated by snake oil salesmen who employed fast-picking, fast-talking one-man bands to make their product more appealing to the desperately poor.But this collection also reminds us that times haven't changed all that much since those days of the Great Depression.After all, when was the last time you heard a trendy, catchy song in a commercial trying to sell you something as basic as toothpaste?

Don't let the cover put you off
Folks, don't let the cover (with a perfomer in blackface) put you off. This is good ole fashioned swing your partner do-se-do type music good for a hoedown and slapping your thighs with delight. Most of these tunes are funny story songs and yes, there is static, but as with silent movies, old fashioned recordings like there are an acquired taste for modern audiences. Jim Jackson, Emmett Miller, Old Uncle Dave Macon (my favorite banjoist), and my homeboy from Spartanburg, SC Pink Anderson (I know his son pretty well) bring much old-fashioned delight to the proceedings. There is an essay in the liner notes about W.K. Kerr another Spartanburg product who was the Ed Sullivan of medicine shows. Overall, this is a history lesson that makes you wanna clap your hands, stomp your feet and say YEE-HAW! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Acoustic Blues    2. Appalachian Folk    3. Blues    4. Blues Collections    5. Country Blues    6. Harmonica Blues    7. Jug Band    8. Minstrel    9. Old-Timey    10. Pop    11. Songster    12. String Bands    13. V/a Compilations   

Editorial Review

This stalwart independent label, headquartered in San Francisco, began in a small Ann Arbor club and grew into one of the most important imprints in blues. Thirty-three tunes ricochet between the potent old-school Chicago stylings of Buddy Guy and Junior Wells's classic "Hoodoo Man Blues" and Big Walter Horton'ss swinging shuffle "Put the Kettle On" to the intriguing pop-folk hybrid of Roy Rogers and Norton Buffalo and the dashing retro-nuevo guitarisms of Nick Curran & the Niteflies to the brawny Texas-schooled sounds of Omar & the Howlers and Smokin' Joe Kubek & Bnois King. The label's Delta blues side is underrepresented, although James Cotton and Elvin Bishop offer two great flavors of cottonland grind. But what's truly perplexing is that Blind Pig's historic recordings by Luther Allison, Johnny Shines, Jimmy Rogers, Charlie Musselwhite, Boogie Woogie Red (the label's first artist), and other significant musicians are omitted, while ham-fisted blues-rockers Tommy Castro and Albert Cummings and the mediocre Deanna Bogart and Duke Tumatoe get entries. Which makes this retrospective decidedly hit-and-miss. Read more

Subjects:  1. Blues    2. Blues Collections    3. Blues-Rock    4. Contemporary Blues    5. Harmonica Blues    6. Modern Electric Blues    7. Pop    8. Soul-Blues    9. V/a Compilations   

Editorial Review

Sweet surrender's always been the subtext of gospel music, but thevelvet punch of this superstar jam band will knock out secular audiences aswell. Read more

Reviews (45)

sublime slide guitar
Robert Randolph plays a pedal steel that competes in a league with Duane Allman. OK, Allman is the best. However, this is the best slide - or pedal steel played like a slide - that has been available since Duane left this planet. If you enjoy great guitar music, you can not be without this album. Robert Randolph has other albums out, but none has lived up to the Word. Since he is still young, maybe Robert Randolph will blow us away in the future - he is certainly capable - but until then, this album features the best slide playing in this millenium.

Souless, Tedious Noodling.Good for napping.
When did music sans structure or direction become so hip.
Gospel gumbo
Growing up in country & western land I'm used to pedal steel. Having taken a liking to the blues some 35 years ago, I knew the Allstars. And being from the south, gospel is a weekly experience. Throwing all this in the pot and stirring produces a gumbo of styles. Top it off with one of my favorite songs of all time, the great I'll Fly Away. It's not for everyone. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Blues    2. Blues Gospel    3. Blues-Rock    4. Jam Bands    5. Jazz    6. Jazz Blues    7. Pop    8. Popular Music   

Editorial Review

The producers of

Features

• Box set

Reviews (15)

Astoundingly good
If you have ever been to New Orleans, you must have this collection - the best "compilation" of any genre I've ever heard. No city sweats music like New Orleans, and this set really captures the sounds, flavors, and even the humidity like nothing else. So whether you love New Orleans and its culture, or just think you might, or even if you are just curious, buy this and turn it up.

Beyond Marvelous
I knew almost nothing about the music of New Orleans, aside from abit of jazz and blues and a few classics.I ordered this box set on a whim, and was absolutely blown away.
Not Definitive, But Very, Very Good
I listened to this great box set almost daily until Katrina hit. After that, I stopped for awhile because it brought back too many painful memories. Slowly, I am inching back to it again.
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Subjects:  1. Blues    2. Blues Collections    3. New Orleans Blues    4. New Orleans Brass Bands    5. New Orleans Jazz    6. New Orleans R&B    7. Piano Blues    8. Pop    9. V/a Compilations   

Features

• Live

Subjects:  1. Bluegrass    2. Bluegrass-Gospel    3. Blues Collections    4. Contemporary Bluegrass    5. Contemporary Folk    6. Contemporary Singer/Songwriter    7. Country    8. Country Gospel    9. Neo-Traditional Folk    10. Pop   

Reviews (4)

Real Gangstas, Role Models, and Elvis Presley
This disc (as well as its companion, "Vol. 2: Dont'cha Hear Poor Mother Calling?") is perhaps some of the most beautiful and honest recordings of human expression you'll ever hear.Modern music has nothing on this stuff; it's the real deal.This is music that was created to get you through the day; not to sell records or to score chicks.This is as anti-commercial, and therefore, as antiestablishment as you can get.Truly alternative.And it is, in a word, spellbinding. DEEP
I really had no idea what i was in store for. But for those who love black, southern and prison history, spirituals, and are thirsting for music in its purest form, buy this CD!!! It has wonderful chants, commentary from Lomax, narrative from the inmatesand even clanking from the axes. You can hear the suffering and longing in their voices. You can hear the humor in may of the lyrics. Be sure to read the booklet so that you can get a clearer understanding of it all. It is a wonderful piece of recorded history. you may also want to buy the book Worse than Slavery, by Oshinsky so that you can get greater sense of exactly waht they are thinking about. One more thing..You will totally feel the energy of 22.

Incredibly powerful music
I was blown away when I listened to this CD for the first time.The recording is great.I didn't expect too much due to the time frame of the recording, but the quality is impressive.I bought this hoping to find more tracks like "Po' Lazarus" from the "O' Brother Where Art Thou" Soundtrack.What I got was much more. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Blues Collections    2. Blues Music    3. Field Recordings    4. Folk & Traditional    5. Italian Folk    6. Pop    7. Traditional Folk    8. Work Songs    9. World Music   

Reviews (5)

Just buy this CD if you like good music.
I have all Van Morrison's records from the era when LP's were king. I have this CD in my auto and it has not been out for over a week. The songs get better each time I hear them. This is just plain great music. I hate to say it but they have made the original versions lose something. Buy this if you love good American music.

Well Done!
My local record store was having a buy 3 get 4 sale on CDs this week. I've been anxiously awaiting the release of Ray Charles' "Genius Loves Company" so I made a trip to get that CD (which I love, by the way). One of the other purchases to get to my "buy 3" was "Vanthology." It has been on my 'get' list for several months, but not one needing a special trip -- at least I thought it didn't.
Why didn't anyone do this before?
This is a natural. It's great to hear soulful singers reinterpret these classic Van tunes, and emphasize the blues/soul/gospel influences inherent to Van's music.Many of these artists are getting on in years (as are many of Van's fans!)and rarely top Van's own versions,but they convey a real feeling for the form. Many of us have been disappointed by less than stellar "tribute" albums ("Blues on Blonde" comes to mind)but I think any Van fan would respond to this.A solid, diverse collection: great songs, great singing. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Blues    2. Blues Collections    3. Blues Music    4. Blues-Rock    5. Pop    6. Power Pop    7. R&B    8. Rock & Roll    9. Roots Rock    10. Soul   

Reviews (3)

Not enough respect for the Queen of the Blues
I own a blues bar, and feel qualified to say that the producers have effectively snubbed the one woman who has done more for woman in Blues than any other for the last 35 years -namely by not show - casing Bonnie Raitt on her own- her vocals, slide guitar and songs have inspired all of these artists - at least Susan Tedeschi acknowleges that -
The "Chicks" Can Play ... And Sing!
What's so nice about this set, especially disc 1, is the sensational singing and playing of many unknown Women of the Blues. Although a huge blues fan and a big collector, several of the performers I had not heard of, such as the Lara Price Band, Alice Stuart and Carolyn Wonderland. But I have now, and they are sensational! I immediately went out and bought a cd of Stuart and Wonderland and Beverly Watkins. This is a big time gem of music. SENSATIONAL. Under $15.00 at most places, so, so worth the money. Have a quick listen to the samples and you'll be hooked and off to the store.

nice selection
CD 1 is the electric or "contemporary" cd with deborah coleman, joana connor, ana popovic and 12more. CD2 is the acoustic or 'traditional CD" WITH RORY BLOCK, SUE FOLEY, JO ANN KELLY and 11 more. No matter how deeply you're into the blues, there's going to be some artists and songs that are new to you and you'll probably like more than one artist you never heard of before.
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Subjects:  1. Acoustic Blues    2. Acoustic Texas Blues    3. Blues    4. Blues Collections    5. Delta Blues    6. Electric Blues    7. Electric Delta Blues    8. Modern Acoustic Blues    9. New York Blues    10. Pop    11. Prewar Country Blues    12. Prewar Gospel Blues    13. Slide Guitar Blues    14. Texas Blues    15. V/a Compilations   

Reviews (3)

well satisfied
cd was as advertised and arrived in good condition, in a timely fashion.this is the first used product i have purchased on the net and i am very satisfied with the results

Great and varied harping!
Wow!A friend recommended this CD to me (as I am beginning to play), and what a treat this was.Terrific variety in style, and superb playing all around.Especially helpful were the extensive liner notes to the CD, listing each artist and going into their background as well as details about the songs.Really enjoyable reading.I just can't say enough about it if you are looking for a good sampling of harp songs.:)

A fine sampler for the casual blues fan
Rhino's "Blues Masters" series is the best of its kind, and while this one disc obviously only scratches the surface of blues harmonica playing, it does feature a lot of good music.
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Subjects:  1. 40's    2. 50's    3. Blues    4. Blues Music    5. Blues Revival    6. Blues Traditional Collections    7. Blues-Rock    8. Chicago Blues    9. Electric Blues    10. Electric Chicago Blues    11. Electric Harmonica Blues    12. Electric Memphis Blues    13. Harmonica Blues    14. Juke Joint Blues    15. Memphis Blues    16. Modern Electric Blues    17. Modern Electric Chicago Blues    18. Piano Blues    19. Pop    20. R&B   

Editorial Review

Ignore the low fidelity of this 26-track compendium, and you have one of the most interesting gospel compilations ever released. Most of these songs were recorded among a variety of "race" labels between 1926 and 1936, mostly for Paramount and Vocalion. Copious liner notes provide the needed details for each track, along with an essay by label chief/folk legend John Fahey. Soundwise, some of these tunes are indeed primitive--there are more hisses and pops than a Mongolian BBQ. But underneath the surface noises, in tracks by Elder J.J. Hadley (a.k.a. Charley Patton), Washington White (a.k.a. Bukka White), and Blind Roosevelt Graves, there's something magical. Apparently, '26 to '36 saw a newfound interest in sacred street singers that, in turn, inspired record labels to hire blues artists to work under aliases. Whatever the motivation, these tracks are testimonies to a nearly lost era of great musicianship. Read more

Reviews (6)

Just buy it, you'll life will be better for it...
Albums like this make me feel great and really bummed out at the same time. Great because this music is as pure, raw and unpop as you can get, just amazingly real, but bummed because real music like this is gone and dead. At least we have these records of a time before proffesionalism and corporations destroyed music (and everyother art form).
The music's great, find better copies of the 78s to transfer
Obviously the music presented here is really great. My only beef is the really poor condition of some of the 78s used. I know this stuff is really rare, but I bet there are cleaner copies of these records out there. Is it supposed to be important that these are John Fahey's 78s? It's not to me. I don't have much music of this type, but I found a much cleaner copy of the Jaybird Coleman track on an old Biograph LP called "This Old World's In A Hell Of A Fix." Even dubbing the version off this LP would have been better that the severely damaged copy of the 78 used for this CD. I wonder if their Charley Patton CD box set was also produced with poor condition 78s like these?

Another Outstanding Revenant Compilation
Revenant has issued some of the best old music compilations: Dock Boggs' "Country Blues," the Stanley Brothers' first recordings, the Anthology of American Folk Music Vol. 4 (not to mention the upcoming super-definitive collection of Charley Patton recordings: "Screamin' and Hollerin' the Blues).Great, obscure music, and inventive, eye-catching packaging.Read more

Subjects:  1. Black Gospel    2. Blues Collections    3. Country Blues    4. Gospel    5. Gospel/Christian Music    6. Pop    7. Prewar Country Blues    8. Prewar Gospel Blues    9. Traditional Gospel   

Editorial Review

Nearly essential for anyone interested in old-time music,Read more

Reviews (5)

Some not so pretty, but mostly Great. I want more from Old Hat!
Inspired by my recent review of Sam Ku West's cd of Hawaiian steel guitar from 1927 and '28, and his version of Memphis Blues contained therein, I decided I need to review this disc which contains a killer Memphis Blues by the Mobile Strugglers.
Stunning recordings, rare music
It's pretty amazing, this late in the folkloric/historic reissues game, to find a whole album's worth of "undiscovered" old-timey music that is of such a high caliber.Old Hat Records, a tiny North Carolina indie label, packs its discs with some of the best music in the style that you're ever likely to hear.(You might also want to check out the "Lost Provinces" and "Folks, He Sure Do Pull Some Bow" CDs...)This disc highlights a rare style of African-American fiddle music, featuring rare recordings by the bands that dotted the southern landscape 'way back when.These groups mixed stringband styles and jazzy jug-band blues and, not incidentally, made some of the catchiest music ever.In addition to great sound quality and great material, the CD is handsomely packaged; the insert booklets include some really cool archival photos, as well as extensive liner notes of the sort that have been woefully absent on similar recent reissue efforts.

An album to live with
This has rapidly become one of my favorite discs.Excellent selection of tracks, excellent transfers, excellent booklet.My only complaint would be that the text in the booklet is not in thesame order as the tracks on the disk. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Acoustic Blues    2. Acoustic Memphis Blues    3. Blues Collections    4. Blues Music    5. Country Blues    6. Delta Blues    7. Early American Blues    8. Jug Band    9. Old-Timey    10. Piedmont Blues    11. Pop    12. Prewar Blues    13. Prewar Country Blues    14. Ragtime    15. Rock    16. String Bands   

Editorial Review

This well-chosen 11-track collection succeeds admirably in its attempt to represent the Mississippi, the river of blues. This deep, wide, multihued collection of blues combines an expansive chronological and stylistic sweep with a commendable attention to entertainment value through its emphasis on the unexpected. Bobby "Blue" Bland's awe-inspiring vocal on "St. James Infirmary," a masterpiece of American music, is an expected highlight, but selections like Ike and Tina Turner's 1969 take on the B.B. King standard "3 O'clock in the Morning" and the electrifying Luther Allison's "Part Time Love," a Motown gem from early in his career, provide satisfying surprises. Chris Thomas King's subtle but significant modernization of Robert Johnson's "Come On in My Kitchen," a performance both rootsy and progressive, is a perfect fit for the collection. Much of the music has a folksy feel, especially the work of Mississippi John Hurt, an acoustic purist until the end, who rolls through a back-to-the-basics "Make Me a Pallet on Your Floor," and that of voluntary European exile Memphis Slim, whose piano-powered "Stewball" features the legendary Willie Dixon on bass. Other legends, including John Lee Hooker and Junior Wells, are well represented, but it's Memphis Minnie, a seminal guitar star of the 1930s, who steals the show with her empowered "I Got to Make a Change Blues."Read more

Reviews (6)

Another good blues collection
This is another good CD I found at my friend Regina's shop, Art and Soul, in Vicksburg, MS (the south end of the Delta).It is a sampling of 11 vocalists, with various instrumental (guitar, harmonica, and/or keyboard with backup on drums, etc.).It is one of the collections put together by Putumayo, and includes a small bonus booklet inside the CD case giving a brief background of the musician/vocalists included - some are deceased, i.e., Luther Allison in 1997, Junior Wells in 1998, John Lee Hooker in 2001, and Memphis Minnie in 1963.I have it playing on my Windows media player as I write this.Playing time of the individual selections ranges from 2:23 (Bobby Bland) to 5:53 (Junior Wells).

That soothes me ...
After hurricane Katrina has raged in this region the Sound of the Mississippi delta music became all the more precious. Of course "St. James Infirmary", the standard ballad for all New Orleans funerals, is represented. It talks about the pain of a man who has seen his wife a last time: "so sweet, so cool, so fair, stretched out on a long white table" in the hospital. What a music will arise now, after the dead bodies are "disposed of" with so few care. I still have a photo in my mind as a woman (near the flooded Canal Street) shoves her dead husband, whom she has bound on a door, through the water. Only the music with this Mississippi feeling, no further newspaper report, will soothe me in such moments. But if I hear the calming voice of Mississippi John Hurt again - or the infectious energy of Tina Turner - then, I think, it will go on again...
Great Gritty Blues Sampler
I heard this cd while shopping and EVERY TUNE was so hot I had to have it!Every track is unique, the artists soulful and exude the blues from their bones.This CD takes you to another place and time where it is good to feel the blues! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Acoustic Blues    2. Blues    3. Blues Collections    4. Blues Music    5. Blues Revival    6. Pop    7. R&B    8. Soul   

Reviews (4)

The true roots of the blues
In the late 80`s early 90`s,I began collecting early blues discs.It seemed to me that Yazoo seemed to have the most varied collections so I started there.Charley Patton`s King of the Delta Blues was a very shocking and yet positive discovery for me,then I found this one.Imagine my suprise when I picked this baby up.I was floored....it`s a who`s who of the first wave of counry blues artists that were recorded in the late 20`s and early 30`s - Tommy Johnson,Son House,Willie Brown,Bukka White,Kid Bailey.....just incredible.
showcase of the blues' greatest strength
Any fan of the blues will appreciate the enormous influence Charley Patton had over the blues players of the delta, and this appreciation can only be increased by the songs presented here. One of the best blues CD's I've ever owned!Essential!
This is a wonderful blues CD.One of the best I've ever purchashed.It includes great performances by legendary blues figures such as Tommie Johnson, Willie Brown, Ishmon Bracey, Son House, Kid Bailey, Bukka White and others.This is the true Mississippi Delta Blues from the late 20's and 30's.The guitar work is mesmorizing and is a blueprint for rock and roll.There are 5 Tommie Johnson cuts, recorded for Victor, that are superb.He was as good as Robert Johnson, in my opinion.Yazoo captures these classic recordings with all that old Mississippi dirt with some scratchiness, yet the sound is vibrant and alive.Willie Brown's "Future Blues" and Tommie Johnson's "Canned Heat Blues" are worth the price of admission alone.Essential! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 20's    2. 30's    3. Acoustic Blues    4. Blues    5. Blues Music    6. Blues Traditional Collections    7. Country Blues    8. Delta Blues    9. Folk-Blues    10. Pop    11. Prewar Country Blues   

Reviews (5)

Love It!!!!
Great sampler of current blues-boogie!
Catchy Boogie Woogie
An easy listening CD, with "catchy" tunes from the first track.If you dance to music as part of an exercise routine, this is an excellent warm up CD!

Looking to Boogie, Get this Album
I bought this album alongside a couple of modern Boogie Woogie CD's.Don't let the mundane look fool you.This album has got it!I had expected it to be older sounding in quality due to the look of the cover.Happily that is not the case.The sound quality is clean and full and it is mixed very well.In short, this album rocks!(Or boogie-woogies rather, but you get the idea).I have had it in slot #5 on my CD player for around six months and often let it play through after listening to another CD.With most albums, it depends on the mood I'm in.I enjoy listening to this one most anytime and usually just let it roll.If your interested in Boogie Woogie, definitely get this one.Every single piece is a winner.It's all instrumental so you will never tire of crappy lyrics.This may be the only Boogie Woogie CD you will ever want because it just doesn't get any better than this. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Blues    2. Blues Music    3. Boogie-Woogie    4. Instrumental    5. Jump Blues    6. Louisiana Blues    7. Modern Electric Blues    8. New Orleans Blues    9. New Orleans Jazz    10. New Orleans R&B    11. Piano Blues    12. Pop    13. R&B    14. Rock & Roll    15. Swamp Blues    16. Swing   

Subjects:  1. Acoustic Blues    2. Acoustic Chicago Blues    3. Blues    4. Blues Collections    5. Blues Music    6. Classic Female Blues    7. Classic Jazz    8. Country Blues    9. Dirty Blues    10. East Coast Blues    11. Piano Blues    12. Piedmont Blues    13. Pop    14. Prewar Blues    15. Prewar Country Blues    16. V/a Compilations   

Reviews (1)

Good Collection of Naughty Tunes -- Including One Zinger
From almost the beginning of recorded music, songs have had some kind of sexual content. Compared to today where little is left to the imagination, this artists make clever use of double-entendres to tell their stories.Read more

Subjects:  1. 20's    2. 30's    3. Acoustic Blues    4. Blues    5. Blues Revival    6. Blues Traditional Collections    7. Classic Female Blues    8. Classic Jazz    9. Country Blues    10. Dirty Blues    11. Early American Blues    12. Piano Blues    13. Piedmont Blues    14. Pop    15. Prewar Country Blues    16. Soul/Reggae/Rhythm & Blues   

Editorial Review

The most startling revelation contained on this two-CD compilation is how rich, varied, and deep Nashville's R&B scene was during a 25-year period in which the city solidified its reputation as the undisputed capital of country music. Arranged chronologically, Read more

Reviews (8)

A mixed blessing
I found the first record to be wonderful but the second was not to my taste.Perhaps this is because I am firmly embedded in the 50s when I was 13.

More than COUNTRY music?
The Country Music Hall of Fame is behind this collection, but they're hoping to remind folks that Nashville is "MUSIC City U.S.A.", not necessarily "Country Music City U.S.A."What you get is 35 cuts ranging from doo-wop to smooth vocals to gritty R&B shouters. Many of the cuts were taken from original 45 and 78 records but the audio restoration has been done well...they don't SOUND like vinyl transfers. Is the thesis of Nashville as R&B focal point realized here? Fairly well: I'm not about to replace Detroit, Memphis or Chicago in my mind as great locations for R&B but this set is fairly solid.
The Best Music You Never Heard
This is a a wonderful compilation. The title of my review is stolen from a NY Times review of the Night Train to Nashville that made me go out and buy it. It isn't totally true since I recognized some of the later songs but it was an eye opener. It is pretty sad that most of the country missed out on some of the greatest music of their time; especially when pap like How Much is that Doggie in the Window was being shoved down people throats.
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Subjects:  1. Jump Blues    2. Modern Electric Blues    3. Nashville Sound/Countrypolitan    4. Pop    5. R&B    6. Soul    7. Soul-Blues    8. Soul/R & B Collections    9. Swamp Blues    10. Traditional Country    11. V/a Compilations   

Editorial Review

Three decades ago Bruce Iglauer founded Alligator Records, selling his hero Hound Dog Taylor's records out of his car trunk. Since then, Alligator has become America's best-known and most prolific blues label, and many of the reasons for its success appear on this budget-priced, two-disc 30th anniversary collection. Much of the material, including Marcia Ball's "Louella" and Shemekia Copeland's "Turn the Heat Up," comes from relatively recent recordings, since the label also released anthologies honoring its 20th and 25th anniversaries. Those two collections are unreservedly recommended, with the 20th providing the best historical overview of the label's evolution.Read more

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Reviews (3)

Excellent
Alligator does it again!Incredible compilation.If you are cont